Traffic

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Before 6.00am there was a car broken down in the left lane eastbound, just before King Georges road. A good run was halted. Traffic was backed-up…again.

Maybe this is just a wasted lament, but it seems that it does not take much to go wrong for the M5 to grind to a halt.

Accidents on the M5 are frequent. An accident guarantees a dreadfully slow run, even if the cars involved in the accident are well away from the traffic lanes. In fact, accidents even affect traffic traveling in the opposite direction. It seems that a lot of drivers can not drive past an accident scene without slowing down to look at what has happened, resulting in the slow procession past the accident scene.

There has to be a better way of dealing with accidents on expressways. If the vehicles involved in an accident can be driven, the vehicles should be driven off the expressway at the next exit so that the drivers can exchange details without causing chaos. If vehicles need to be towed, they should be towed as soon as possible.

The issues with accidents and breakdowns on the M5 are repeated everyday on roads around Sydney.

RMS (formerly the RTA) is introducing a new road numbering system and new names for some important routes. The changes will commence in early 2013 and should be fully implemented by the end of that year.

The changes are simple in that they apply a letter and number code to Motorways (M), roads of national significance (A) and roads of state significance (B). The numbers identify the different motorways or roads within each category.

The changes will make navigation on major routes much simpler. For example, if want to drive to Broken Hill from Sydney, you will simply follow the A32 the whole way. If you want to drive from Sydney to Walgett you join the B55 and follow it through to Walgett.

The changes are consistent with systems in most other states so that the same code will apply as roads cross into those states.

Name changes will apply to some major roads, however the changes are not significant and should not have a major impact.